By Jacqueline Stenson

c.1995 Medical Tribune News Service

Tai chi, also known as shadow boxing, is an ancient discipline that uses graceful movements, deep breathing and mental concentration to achieve mind-body harmony, according to the researchers, led by Dr. Jin-Shin Lai of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation at the National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei.

As people age, they experience a natural decline in their lung capacity. While many experts believe endurance training can slow this decline, many exercises are considered too taxing for older people, the researchers said, because these people often suffer other types of disability that preclude strenuous exercise.

In a study of 84 people whose average age was 64, those who practiced tai chi regularly over two years had less of a decline in lung function than those who were more sedentary, and they were more flexible. Tests given before and after the study showed that the sedentary men and women experienced more than twice the decline in the amount of oxygen they could take into their lungs, compared to those who practiced tai chi.

The tai chi group also had greater spinal flexibility and less body fat than their sedentary counterparts, according to the study, published in the November issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The deep-breathing component of tai chi may explain why those who practiced the activity maintained better lung function than those who did not, according to David Anderson, a registered nurse and certified tai chi instructor in Indianapolis.

"Tai chi emphasizes deep abdominal breathing, which uses more of your lungs than usual chest breathing," Anderson said. Tai chi also increases a person's heart rate, and therefore helps improve overall heart and lung health, he said.

Because tai chi is a low-impact activity, it is a good exercise for older people who may have joint degeneration and other physical problems, the Indiana expert said.

"It's not outwardly strenuous like aerobics is," Anderson said. "And it's cheap - you don't need $100 shoes. You only need 10 square feet of empty floor space."

The Arthritis Foundation recommends tai chi for people with arthritis, many of whom cannot tolerate the jarring effects of other types of exercise. The range-of-motion exercises involved in tai chi benefit arthritis sufferers by helping them keep their joints flexible and reduce stiffness, according to the arthritis group.

In the study, people in the tai chi group practiced the discipline about five times a week. These people had been doing tai chi an average of seven years prior to the study.

Each exercise session consisted of 20 minutes of warm-up (including stretching exercises, calisthenics and balance training), 24 minutes of tai chi training and 10 minutes of cool-down.

Doctors who would like to read a more in-depth, clinical version of this story should check the Dec. 21 issue of Medical Tribune Family Physician Edition.

This Research Abstract entitled "Tai Chi Improves Lung Function In Older People" was found at http://members.aol.com/sltcca/research/taireabs.htm#Wolfson2Abs